June 26, 2024

Ecclesiastes 7.21, 22 (NIV)

Do not pay attention to every word people say or you may hear your servant cursing you – for you know in your heart that many times you yourself have cursed others.

God is helping me develop a thick skin while maintaining a soft heart.*

This verse “just happened” to be the theme for my devotional one night after a particularly grueling experience. I had listened to lies, innuendos, and accusations about myself and I struggled with the temptation to “return the favor.” While I am not proud of how I handled the situation – I would like to have been gracious, instead I was defensive – I did manage not to sink to the other person’s level.

  

When I was in high school, I bought a new dress that I thought looked amazing on me. I couldn’t wait to wear it to school, but when I got there, a boy who meant nothing to me said I looked like a fruit salad and I never wore the dress again. Why should I have cared what he thought? There are people in my life whose opinions matter – but there are also those whose thoughts about me should just be ignored.

I know you have done it, too: uttered the thoughtless – even cruel – remark. Did you mean for it to cause permanent damage to the other person? Did you even consider that it could have? None of us thinks that we have that much power – but we do.

Solomon tells us to combat power with power. When others use the power of their words to hurt us, we have the power to deflect the words – to diminish their power – simply by choosing to ignore them.

One knows how little meaning attaches to many of one's own idle words, and should not therefore pay any attention to the idle words of others.*